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Research continues to investigate barriers to managing occupational health and safety behaviors among the workforce. Recent literature argues that (1) there is a lack of consistent, multilevel communication and application of health and safety practices, and (2) social scientific methods are absent when determining how to manage injury prevention in the workplace. In response, the current study developed and tested a multilevel intervention case study at two industrial mineral mines to help managers and workers communicate about and reduce respirable silica dust exposures at their mine sites. A dust assessment technology, the Helmet-CAM, was used to identify and encourage communication about potential problem areas and tasks on site that contributed to elevated exposures. The intervention involved pre- and post-assessment field visits, four weeks apart that included multiple forms of data collection from workers and managers. Results revealed that mine management can utilize dust assessment technology as a risk communication tool to prompt and communicate about healthier behaviors with their workforce. Additionally, when workers were debriefed with the Helmet-CAM data through the device software, the dust exposure data can help improve the knowledge and awareness of workers, empowering them to change subtle behaviors that could reduce future elevated exposures to respirable silica dust. This case study demonstrates that incorporating social scientific methods into the application of health and safety management strategies, such as behavioral modification and technology integration, can leverage managers' communication practices with workers, subsequently improving health and safety behaviors.

Background : The use of formative research as a critical component of intervention planning is highly supported in the literature. However, studies that report such processes in practice are minimal. This paper reports on the formative data collectio...

Personal respirable dust sampling and the evaluation of control technologies have been providing exposure information to the mining industry but not necessarily in a way that shows how technology can be integrated to provide organizational support an...

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Office of Extramural Programs.

Published:

August 2016

Series:

DHHS publication ; no. (NIOSH) 2016-165

Description:

This report details the investment NIOSH made during the fiscal year to our multidisciplinary centers, investigator-initiated research projects, and cooperative research agreements. Funding is also described for our training project grants, state sur...

Like many experienced workers, remote control continuous miner operators perform their everyday jobs making choices and decisions that they may not consciously think about. While performing tasks, they are continuously processing feedback and cues wh...